Back for the future: a client centred analysis of social welfare and family law provision

The landscape of legal advice provision is entering a period of significant change in England and Wales. Whilst there is a great deal of uncertainty about how the future landscape of advice service provision will evolve, there are lessons to be drawn from past delivery models.

This article first looks back at the period following the Access to Justice Act 1999, setting out a range of delivery models initiated following the Act, as well as research and evaluation conducted in the millennium decade. Findings are then presented from a comprehensive qualitative study on how people experience and deal with social welfare and family problems, and on facilitators and barriers to integrated advice provision, including inter-organisational working. This is explored through the lens of a delivery model which emphasised partnership and the pooling of resources and specialisms to meet client needs: the Community Legal Advice Centre model.     

1‐800‐Skype‐Me

It is increasingly common that children of divorce are geographically separated from one of their parents. This article considers the challenges that arise from that reality by exploring this problem from a variety of perspectives and by providing practical tips to minimize the impact of the distance. A review of the Ontario caselaw and Arizona Guidelines reveal that certain factors are important in the resolution of these disputes, including: the age of the child, mode of transportation between homes, distance, prior contact, and feasibility of virtual access. Court‐ordered access may include remedies that, absent the distance issue, may be considered extreme, including moving to overnight/extended access periods for young children, permitting children to travel unaccompanied, favoring the nonresident parent for holidays and vacation time, allowing children to decrease contact with the nonresident parent, and decreasing or terminating child support. Where distance dictates the in‐person and virtual access schedules, creative solutions are critical to the successful resolution of these cases. Forward thinking family law professionals can meaningfully help parents to achieve better outcomes for children.     

Banks and the Communities They Serve: Time to Legislate?

In March 2007 HM Treasury published its latest thoughts on Financial Inclusion (HM Treasury Financial inclusion: The way forward, 2007), highlighting that after 10 years of activity in this area there is still growing evidence that the market is not meeting everyone’s needs, with significant numbers of people not able to access basic financial services such as credit. This continues alongside media stories of further bank branch closures in some areas, branches for high income earners only in others and the continuing controversy surrounding charges. This article will, with reference to the UK government’s financial inclusion agenda assess whether the time has come to implement legislation mandating that UK credit institutions have regard to customers needs when making decisions that could affect those most at risk from restricted access to financial services. These needs can include both access to affordable credit and access to financial services, such as bank accounts. The paper will use as a comparator the much talked about United States Community Reinvestment Act, enacted in 1977 and since amended, hailed (Barr New York University Law Review 80:513, 2005) and criticised (Macey and Miller Virginia Law Review 78:291, 1993) in equal measures, designed to ensure that depository institutions meet the credit needs of the communities they serve, particularly low and moderate income areas. Although not designed to tackle the perceived problems identified by the UK government, would enactment of similar legislation do more to achieve these aims that the activities undertaken so far. The article proposes that one way in which to improve the fight against financial exclusion is to improve the disclosure requirements of financial institutions, forcing them, where necessary, to provide data on lending patterns in disadvantaged areas.

试析开放存取期刊对高校图书馆信息资源建设的作用

开放存取期刊作为一种全新的学术交流模式,已引起图书馆界的普遍关注。它不仅丰富了馆藏,而且有效缓解了图书馆期刊采购经费过高的压力,并实现了信息资源的共建共享。高校图书馆应通过完善馆藏体系,转变信息服务等方式,充分挖掘这一新资源,使其成为图书馆信息资源建设的有益补充。     

Electronic health record: Wiring Europe’s healthcare

The European Commission wants to boost the digital economy by enabling all Europeans to have access to online medical records anywhere in Europe by 2020. With the newly enacted Directive 2011/24/EU on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare due for implementation by 2013, it is inevitable that a centralised European health record system will become a reality even before 2020. However, the concept of a centralised supranational central server raises concern about storing electronic medical records in a central location. The privacy threat posed by a supranational network is a key concern. Cross-border and Interoperable electronic health record systems make confidential data more easily and rapidly accessible to a wider audience and increase the risk that personal data concerning health could be accidentally exposed or easily distributed to unauthorised parties by enabling greater access to a compilation of the personal data concerning health, from different sources, and throughout a lifetime.     

“迎法入乡”与“接近正义”——对中国乡村“赤脚律师”的个案研究

在职业法律服务队伍加剧了法律系统与社会生活之间距离的时候,目前在中国一些乡村存在的“赤脚律师”铺设了一条“接近正义”的桥梁。赤脚律师主动的“迎法入乡”,并不仅仅是简单地在农村法律服务体制中发挥拾遗补缺的功能,而且是在乡村社会重建了“法律服务”的概念,即以长远的人情交换而非现时的金钱交易为基础的法律服务。因此,赤脚律师与单求经济利益的黑律师有着本质的差别,他们对中国的法治化进程以及公民社会的塑造具有重要的意义。但由于国家对乡村社会的治理方式与乡村社会自生自发的利益表达方式之间面临着冲突,所以,赤脚律师还面临着一些深层次的困惑,也即所谓“周广立式的困惑”。     

多重影响因素与少数民族政治社会化的有效实现

少数民族的政治社会化作为保障我国社会、政治稳定的一个重要手段 ,具有极为重要的现实意义和政治意义。本文在分析认定少数民族政治社会化基本内涵的基础上 ,着重从微观和宏观两个方面对少数民族政治社会化的影响因素及存在的问题进行分析 ,并在此基础上探讨了少数民族政治社会化所应达到的目标、提出了解决这些问题和达到这些目标的具体措施和机制。     

浅议刑事辩护质量

刑事辩护的质量关系到刑事辩护制度的未来与生命。受诉讼理念、传统文化等因素的影响,我国刑事辩护的质量呈现出普遍不高的现状,严重制约了我国刑事辩护制度的发展。从完善辩护制度、扩充律师权利、建立辩护律师准入机制入手,提高我国刑事辩护的质量已是势在必行。     

Vexatious Claims: Challenging the Case for Employment Tribunal Fees

Since July 2013, recourse to Employment Tribunals in the United Kingdom has attracted fees of up to £1,200 for single claimants. The impact of this reform has been dramatic: within a year, claims dropped by nearly 80 per cent. This paper suggests that this fee regime is in clear violation of domestic and international norms, including Article 6(1) ECHR and the EU principle of effective judicial protection. Drawing on rational choice theory and empirical evidence, we argue that the resulting payoff structures, negative for the majority of successful claimants, strike at the very essence of these rights. The measures are, furthermore, disproportionate in light of the Government's stated policy aims: fees have failed to transfer cost away from taxpayers, have failed to encourage early dispute resolution, and have failed to deter vexatious litigants. The only vexatious claims, we find, appear to be those which motivated the reforms in the first place.     

Crossover Cases of High‐Conflict Families Involving Child Protection Services: Ontario Research Findings and Suggestions for Good Practices

Child protection services (CPS) are increasingly becoming involved in high‐conflict separations and the related custody and access proceedings. CPS involvement is often necessary to respond to abuse or neglect allegations or protect children from emotional harm. However, these crossover cases are very challenging for family justice professionals. This article reports on research on crossover cases in Ontario, including an analysis of reported court decisions, a survey of CPS staff, and interviews with family justice professionals. We suggest clearer CPS policies; improved understanding of respective professional roles; CPS summary reports for family courts; increased interagency coordination, communication, and training; and use of judicial case management.